A virtual phone system is a cloud-based phone management system that eliminates the dependency on physical phone line infrastructures and location-restricted devices.
It connects multiple numbers and devices to streamline communications between employees, customers, and other parties.
While this may not sound like a massive improvement over a traditional phone system like a private branch exchange (PBX), the benefits are spectacular for companies of all sizes.
Some businesses underestimate the costs associated with operating numbers across multiple countries. Virtual phone numbers are game-changers in this department because they enable you to use toll-free numbers with extensions from countries worldwide through voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology.
With this technology, a business can reduce phone management costs by up to 65%. In addition, customers and employees can streamline communication between coworkers, partners, and customers with local phone numbers in numerous locations.
Whether it’s lead capture, sales, customer support, or others, every part of your business benefits from a productivity boost when communication becomes more available and easier to manage.
Almost every business today needs to offer some form of support. Phone support is in high demand in B2B and B2C spaces, but customer relationships can suffer with a traditional phone system.
For example, it’s pretty common to place a call and get put on hold for hours. Once you’re lucky enough to get through, you might be bounced around between multiple people while waiting in line every time you get a new connection.
This waiting can be incredibly infuriating to customers and employees.
Fortunately, virtual phone systems have better call distribution management protocols.
One of these protocols, called automated call distribution, is among the top reasons you need a virtual phone system solution.
Imagine, again, a customer placing a call to your company. The automated call distribution technology works its magic to connect the customer with the person best-equipped to handle their situation.
In addition, multiple team members can be made aware of calls and even share inboxes. This makes the screening process more efficient and streamlines the follow-up process.
Traditional phone management systems rely on the complexity of the infrastructure and human input. Customers and employees cannot communicate effectively if one or both are underwhelming.
So how does a virtual phone system tackle things differently?
The auto-attendant feature makes receptionists all but redundant for businesses using virtual systems. This will significantly impact a company’s budget as it will save money on labor costs.
But more importantly, an automated attendant can ensure consistent professionalism when taking inbound calls.
There’s no chance of not answering customers on time, and you won’t have to worry about the emotional state of your receptionist and how it could impact customer relations and communications. With an automated attendant, you can set up a 24/7 pre-recorded message. With the pre-recorded message, you won’t have to depend on having two receptionists working around the clock. Anyone interested in contacting your company will be able to do so at any hour.
While this can improve the customer service department, it might do even more for your sales.
A 24/7 virtual operator is always there to handle calls. Therefore, you’re less likely to miss crucial sales opportunities.
And like everything else, an automated attendant is usually flexible and customizable. You can set up the answering service to redirect calls to various extensions and departments regardless of your office hours.
Note that the level of complexity and adjustability will differ from one phone service provider to another.
Many businesses still rely on PBX and traditional phone systems that are far from efficient in today’s environment.
Additionally, they’re not cheap to install or maintain by any means.
So, if you’re wondering why you need a virtual phone system, affordable customization is a big selling point.
VoIP technology is inherently flexible. You can opt to implement as many or as few features as your business needs.
These personalized solutions mean that you don’t have to pay extra for perks your company won’t use. With the right provider, of course!
Furthermore, you gain freedom when picking your number. Not all businesses care about their phone numbers. But in some cases, a particular number can be an essential branding element. You’ve seen this in TV advertising, where companies choose a sequence of numbers that spell out the product or service they offer.
It’s a nifty marketing trick!
Thanks to the affordable customization of virtual phone systems, you can cherry-pick your number without spending a fortune.
The main idea is that implementing a VoIP solution is a lot like choosing a streaming service over cable. You don’t spend more of your budget to have access to some networks you might not watch.
One thing that makes or breaks a business is access to data. Knowledge is everything to a company, and the more accurate information it collects, the easier it is to make vital decisions.
Since communications between employees and customers can reveal valuable information, access to phone call analytics is crucial.
Traditional phone systems can’t do this efficiently. Choosing a standard PBX solution will hinder your ability to collect and analyze data.
Virtual phone systems can gather valuable information such as customer hold times, busy time slots, average call times, and other essential metrics.
Employers can even use employee-specific data to determine their performance on the job.
All of these analytics provide vital insights into how your business is running.
Using a traditional phone management system will likely lock you into using desk phones.
Virtual phone systems, meanwhile, connect all sorts of devices, including:
This cross-platform compatibility ensures streamlined communications between employees, business partners, and customers.
Cloud-based VoIP technology allows people to place and receive calls from anywhere — whether they’re working from the office, home, or in the field.
And despite the geographic differences, a virtual phone system will help keep your company appearance professional.
Let’s be honest. Not everyone has time to check voicemail, and sometimes you forget about it.
But when you’re dealing with customers, it’s crucial to stay apprised of their needs.
Unfortunately, a lot can happen after business hours. People might try to call to voice some complaints or ask for help. They’ll do it hoping that the right person gets the message and gets back to them.
This is where a virtual phone system comes in handy.
The system can forward voicemails and even fax attachments to a user’s email address. Thus, the right people can get important messages and access them from any location with internet access.
Voicemail forwarding can easily streamline the follow-up process by connecting various locations and devices.
In addition, it gives employees more freedom and empowers them to be efficient even when out of the office.
Think about a phone number for a moment. How much does it offer?
A single line of communication.
Some business owners think that traditional phone systems can do wonders for their companies. Installing the infrastructure and adding multiple lines can make a business more professional.
But what happens when you decide to grow your team?
The one-off investment into a traditional phone system starts to fail.
Virtual phone systems come with almost unlimited scalability. If you need more features, you can add them to your plan.
You can add more toll-free numbers to your plan if you need more toll-free numbers.
Are you hiring new people? All you have to do to accommodate everyone is add new users to the plan.
As your business grows, your virtual phone service can scale with it. And it won’t only keep up. In many cases, it will directly impact your ability to grow sustainably.
Most providers make it easy enough to customize plans on the fly. Again, you don’t pay for what you don’t use, and there’s always room to add more support.
This can be a significant advantage for fast-growing companies battling for market share in competitive sectors.
Many people believe that traditional landlines are infallible. But traditional phone systems are more vulnerable than you realize.
All sorts of disasters and technical difficulties can cut your communications. If your employees can’t talk to each other or with customers, your service will suffer.
Some issues can take days to resolve, and in some cases, you could face significant infrastructure interventions. That means you’ll have to overload other communication lines to deliver customer support, manage sales, etc.
You could be looking at thousands of dollars in repairs, not to mention the hits to your brand.
Although customers and clients may seem reasonable, they aren’t. People want consistent, reliable services. They expect companies to use the best technologies to avoid communication and service downtime.
Customers don’t care how much you have to pay to give them peace of mind. They demand it. If you don’t meet their demands, their loyalties can quickly change.
So this is another area where virtual phone systems can come in handy.
They have much better uptime than traditional systems and are less dependent on physical infrastructure. Service providers can set up multiple data center networks and create redundancies over redundancies to minimize or eliminate downtime.
Thus, your brand will look professional and trustworthy, and customers will stay loyal to your business.
In addition, switching offices won’t cause any disruptions in communications or change your brand’s awareness. Virtual numbers stay the same no matter where you go.
Running a successful business is challenging, especially when not leveraging the best available technology. Even small mistakes in your budgeting can limit your growth potential or diminish profit margins.
One area you have to master is communication. Whether it’s between you and employees, your team, and the customers, communication is vital — the more pleasant the experience for everyone, the better for your brand and business.
Regardless of where your company is in its development, adding a virtual phone system to manage communications should be one of your top priorities.
A service provider like Telephono can be a game-changer. It can improve first impressions, build trust, give your team more geographic freedom, and eliminate the need for complex hardware installations, among other things.
Are you ready to take a step towards the future of communication solutions?
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